My obsession with rotary phones is real. More real than your smartphone. Rotary phones are elegant and regal. Decolonize today! When I run for Ogema in 2029 it will be mandatory to have a rotary phone in your home if you live on the reservation. Sincerely, real olde school Generation X-er.

My Instagram left me running,For myself, In my own mirror,Of self-absorption,I knew I made it big on facebook with a clown,That in town,Ran away,Like a king of a fling,Ohhhh I am sure that stings,

The TRUTH,You get the boot,From the Russian bot,Watching your activity,Cuz youse is Indigenous on the internets,

I know you thinkin’ youse is wise,Decolonizing with tons of hashtags,You are so a millenilal,

Get a rotary phone,Listen to the tone,This is a poem,So quit the roam,Of your soul,

What were you in your past life,A lump on the log of anti-social media,Smoke smoke smokin’ those likes up,

The world has taken the drug,This is the smart plan,To manipulate your soul,

Get out while you can,Don’t bury your heard in the sand,

Delete,Uninstall,Roll it back,Cuz youse is loosing track,Of who you is,In this world,

They will manipulate your mind,So you think you are fine,Why in fact you are not free,Just let the app,Tap,Go,Just be,Like it was 1982,With the talkin’ on the steps,In the hood,Before the corruption,Disruption of the dial tone,Phone.

]]>Halloween, Colonization, and Hypersexualization of Native American WomenCecelia Rose LaPointeWed, 31 Oct 2018 11:00:00 +0000http://www.anishinaabekwe.com/blog/halloween-native-women5640c6e7e4b0652a44ecd343:5652435be4b03dc95c7cb2db:5bd92b9688251bdf71757207As a preface everyone needs to understand that the majority culture is vacuous and this is why this type of assault exists in the world. The colonial culture is incredibly shallow and runs a narrative of strip malls, bad food, homogenization, cultural appropriation, and consumerism. Deep thinking, empathy, listening, and intellectualism is discouraged. In addition to those attributes that are required for true decolonial community work we need to prioritize Native, First Nations, Metis, and Inuit voices. The majority culture doesn’t and has no plan in sight to do so. This work of centering our people comes from us. What is emphasized is a superficial way of life that prioritizes marginalization and oppression of Native people through stereotypes, mascots, systemic racism, settler colonialism, and violent occupation. This is one of the reasons why cultural appropriation flourishes around Halloween because the majority culture system is one of continued assault on our lives and communities. Halloween costumes and racist and sexist. More so, they are continuing colonization through the extremely harmful sexualization of Native American women. Through this another girl, women, or Two-Spirit will go missing and will not get the same attention as a White girl from the suburbs.

October is month that causes stress and anxiety for Native American people. It is a stressful time because misrepresentations of our culture are everywhere. Combatting this doesn’t mean that colonials will listen to us because this is how colonization maintains itself through systemic oppression. Don’t pay attention to the bots in the comment sections in anti-social media. There are supporters but we need more people to make larger national change to end this harmful racism.Invisible Minority

Over a decade ago when I still had my facebook page my Indian-American friend had a Halloween party at her house in suburban Ferndale, Michigan. When I was scrolling through her pictures I saw her White male friend dressing up as an “Indian,” in the stereotypical brown and fringe garb. I called her out on it and asked her why she didn’t say anything. She wasn’t one to take action and call people out. We aren’t friends anymore because of her refusal to support her friend.

I’ve seen white people and non-white dress up as “Indian.” If you search on YouTube you will find numerous makeup tutorials for Native American Halloween makeup. You can also take your time searching images on the internet and see that it is people from many backgrounds who dress up as the stereotypical Native in fringe, face paint and headdresses. We are rendered invisible which makes addressing the issue of sexist and racist Halloween costumes difficult.

Image created by Danielle Miller - https://twitter.com/xodanix3

Hypersexualization and Festishization are Colonization

The majority colonial culture believes that racist costumes honor Native people. White supremacy is the foundation of cultural appropriation. However, please note that this is not only white people who uphold this system. Non-whites are invested in settler colonial cultural appropriation as in the case with my former Indian-American friend who cowed to addressing racism. We are rendered invisible in a colonial system that is obsessed with maintaining a Black and White racial binary for the sake of “choosing one” race. This harms people of all backgrounds who may be very dark or very light and having a few tribes in their ancestry. As a racist social construct we need to move beyond this binary as an intentional social construct to maintain settler colonialism through erasure. How does this maintain settler colonialism? By making Native people hyperinsivible and providing no platform for our issues because… psssht… colonialism never ended.

When Halloween rolls around the corner you can expect racism and that sick feeling in your belly that a vacuous culture creates. Colonials don themselves in racist and sexist Halloween costumes somewhere in suburban sprawl land, urban hipster gentrification land, or white border town near the rez that is incredibly racist. They purchase racist Halloween costumes and go to their really exciting suburban party or college party. It is there where stereotypes abound and racism is rubber stamped okay. A night of fun you won’t remember when you are married with children at age 42 and following the normal life of life, liberty, and the pursuit of colonial happiness.

Costumes have racist and sexist names such as Reservation Royalty and Tribal Princess. Sickening to think of the people who came up with these names have most likely never met a Native person in their entire life. Racist and bigots don’t care to be sensitive our issues and apologize as they benefit every day from settler colonialism. We have had amazing people try to take on the issue and they are ignored or told they will have the police called on them. This is colonialism working to maintain oppression and systemic racism.

Finally, as we exist these sexist stereotypes exist as a form of colonial erasure and domination. Native American women experience the highest rates of sexual violence out of any group of women in the US.

”Many remain ignorant or apathetic towards the disproportionate amounts of sexual violence Indigenous women face, while denying the causation of violence and fetishization. Is the trauma endured by Indigenous women quantifiable? “More than 60% of American Indian and Alaska Native women have been physically assaulted and 1 in 3 have experienced rape or attempted rape in their lifetime. Nearly all (97%) of these women have experienced at least one act of violence committed by a non-Indian” according to the DOJ’s National Institute of Justice.” - Yandy’s Native American Costumes Perpetuate Violence Against Indigenous Women

Photo credit: America Tonight

All the racist and sexist Halloween costumes contribute to this by normalizing these stereotypes of the “sexy squaw.” We don’t exist to the colonial majority culture. We are their racist mascots, stereotypes, fictional cartoon characters, and burdens.

Concerns Not Take Seriously

Diné Mother, Social Worker, and Writer, Amanda Blackhorse has boldly challenged a disguting company called Yandy. Amanda and many other of our awesome community workers took it into their hands to not only create a petition but take action to directly by going directly to the company headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. She was threatened with arrest when she presented a petition with 14,000 signatures to the Yandy CEO, Jeff Watton. Native women have protested Yandy in previous years and this company maintains itself as a sexist and racist company ignoring the voices of Native American women.

Here is the colonial kicker that shows how settler colonialism and violent occupation is maintained by denial, avoidance, and dismissal by perpetrator.

“In September, Yandy bowed to criticism over its “sexy” Handmaid’s Tale costume — a mini-skirted version of the outfits worn by the surrogate sex slaves in the hit Hulu show — and removed the item from its website. It took only a few hours for online outrage to force the company to pull the costume and issue an apology. “It has become obvious that our ‘Yandy Brave Red Maiden Costume’ is being seen as a symbol of women’s oppression, rather than an expression of women’s empowerment,” the company wrote in a statement. “This is unfortunate, as it was not our intention on any level.”

And yet the company continues to sell costumes that disparage Native women and reduce us to sexual objects, despite protests from Indigenous communities nationwide. A company spokesperson tried to justify this, telling the Phoenix New Times that “the costumes are influenced by powerful fashion elements derived from the culture and are intended to pay homage to the Native American community, not to mock or offend.” – Stop selling costumes that sexualize Indigenous women by Amanda Blackhorse

Beautiful Resistance

Not to mock of offend, eh? Yandy and many other companies perpetuate oppression in the form of costumes as well as headdresses. I have ancestral Chiefs in my lineage and I take being crane clan very seriously. In my Ojibway culture this is about leadership and chieftainship. It is about being speakers for the community. Headdresses should never be worn by non-natives under any circumstance. All headdresses from the 573 federally recognized tribes in the US are different. All have meaning. Each feather has a significant meaning and are presented by either being gifted or earning them. The complete disrespect of hipsters, hippies, and everyone else in between wearing headdresses are “playing Indian,” and contributes to colonial erasure.

Our mere existence is resistance. We are rising and taking action every single moment across Turtle Island. We face daily racism that is all around us and negative stereotypes that perpetuate our pain. However, we are doctors, professors, counselors, social workers, community organizers, construction workers, telephone workers, truck drivers, writers, journalists, poets, artists, and singers. Colonialism wants to paint us in a negative light while we are healing, walking a sober road, attending cultural events, and learning our own languages.

In order to reclaim, decolonize, and create larger social change we need more support from folks in the majority culture to tow the line so we don’t have the burden as the invisible minority to constantly challenge colonialism as it maintains sexualization and festishization of Native American women. We need you do to this for the healing, visibility and voice of our people and communities on Turtle Island.Resources

]]>Poem: PastaCecelia Rose LaPointeSun, 16 Sep 2018 19:29:01 +0000http://www.anishinaabekwe.com/blog/poempasta5640c6e7e4b0652a44ecd343:5652435be4b03dc95c7cb2db:5b9eac88575d1fafdc3d9ff3I’ve been trying to ease the pain of generational trauma,Through prevention,As I stand on my track in 48067 in 1997,I gaze at the clouds,The trains in the distance fill my soul with a fire,To run and fly,

I am destined to be great,But generational trauma takes a toll at age 20,

I’ve towed the line with some of the best,My bourgeoisie White track friends let me not shave my legs,They honor my heritage,

But what they don’t see is the pain or sorrow,Yet to percolate to the surface,In the suburbs everything appears to be alright,With do gooder white liberalism,Supporting my dreams,

But down in the dorm in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,I am feeling the sorrow of Chief Oshkosh,The looming darkness envelopes me,I am in my darkest days,

Once the picture perfect role model,I am now surveying the darkness of my soul,Haunts of old,Demons surround,I don’t know what self-care means,

I am towing the line of self-mutilation,Internalized grief eats away at my body,Which gets funneled into running when I was supposed to be done,With those competitive days of glory chasing my Timex dreams,

I am running on the land of a sorrowful place,A sign of suicide awareness in the community,Beauty has left my face,I am physically gray,

From 2002-2006 I struggle to maintain my equilibrium,I wanted to run away but where?

Pasta and perfection,Measuring cups of Allure magazine direction,Plastic beauty that I never wanted,

As a Two-Spirit my soul is torn,Paint your nails,Go out on the town,Breathe the fumes of environmental racism of the sorrow of smoke,Numb the pain in a bar off Cass Avenue before gentrification,

The Androgynous Man in Brown Pants,Yes he is me,

I am the worker from my past lifetimes,Holding onto that bread that is stifling my soul,I’ve released that bread to the sea,From the top of the Tower Bridge in my dreams,

This time in 2018 I finally heal and I can eat pasta again,No longer do plastic measuring cups define my existence,No longer does the dorm room eating disorder smell haunt my existence,No longer does the current of unknown generational grief haunt me with every turn I make,No longer does the perfection of athleticism and “stars of track and field” win,

My soul is more free and so are we,The relations,Ancestors,Community,

It may take 12 years to crumple up that trauma and toss into the fire,The smoke cleanses out and out and out,

]]>Traverse City: The Dangerous Intersection of Bourgeoisie White Liberalism and Colonial “Land Conservation”Cecelia Rose LaPointeFri, 04 May 2018 14:58:39 +0000http://www.anishinaabekwe.com/blog/traverse-city-the-dangerous-intersection-of-bourgeoisie-white-liberalism-and-colonial-land-conservation5640c6e7e4b0652a44ecd343:5652435be4b03dc95c7cb2db:5aea527baa4a997479f33085Traverse City, Michigan is a dangerous place. White liberalism is dangerous. White liberalism is colonization and therefore Traverse City, Michigan is full of the bourgeoisie colonial White liberals. If the folks in Traverse City want to poke fun at Manistee, Michigan then at least the folks in the sticks down by the river are outright racist rather than pretending they are “do gooder White liberals.” If there is a hierarchy in racism – pretending you are not racist is far worse.

The disease of colonization has White liberals believing that their hands aren’t dirty. Go to Africa and bring colonial help instead of empowering Native folks right in your own backyard. Open a co-op in a so called working class neighborhood in lily White Traverse City and please don’t feel good about yourself. Do bike lanes make you feel even better? Too bad your liberal city is the most sprawled out in Northern Michigan. Conservatives pretty much run Grand Traverse County so liberals really don’t have power.

Bourgeoisie White Liberalism

Liberalism wants to not identify with conservatism. If you are talking about the majority culture colonial politics in the United States then these are two sides to the same coin. Good luck challenging the system by believing in the system. Therefore, bourgeoisie White liberalism is colonialism and believes in the current system.

Shut down Line 5? What about help others choose recovery in your own backyard as environmental justice? Or bringing a migrant farm worker family some clothes or decent housing that isn’t filled with mold? If you drive a car then there is no reason to fight big oil? Have plastic in your home? Then get rid of everything that is associated with oil. A partial list of products made from oil. I am pro-industry but I believe the patriarchal industry needs to change. I am pro-industry for the working class people. I am pro-industry for the workers and the bread on the table. I am from a working class family with UAW and CWA roots. We need to change our ways but change and transformation takes time. This downplaying of the poor and working class (who are mostly Native and People of Color) degrades the wealth and time of labour. I am akin to the worker because it is in my blood and soul. The sweat and tears for family and community instills a pride in labour. Bourgeoisie White liberalism wants to end this labour without many solutions and doesn’t take into consideration colonial resource extraction in Indigenous communities to make their so called “environmental friendly,” Prius.

“Eco-consciousness” and “green living” are centrepieces of product branding for the Toyota Prius. But that feel-good packaging has rapidly worn thin for members of the Algonquin Nation and residents of Kipawa, Quebec, who are now fighting to protect traditional Algonquin territory from devastation in the name of hybrid car battery production.

In 2011, after nearly two years of negotiations, Matamec Explorations, a Quebec-based junior mining exploration company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Toyotsu Rare Earth Canada (TRECan), a Canadian subsidiary of Japan-based Toyota Tsusho Corporation. The memorandum confirmed Matamec’s intention to become “one of the first heavy rare earths producers outside of China.” In pursuit of this role, the company plans to build an open-pit Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE) mine directly next to Kipawa Lake, the geographical, ecological, and cultural centre of Kipawa.” - Toyota Prius Not So Green After All

Water is life but that sounds like pro-life. How about water is love? Water is healing? Water is scary! Have you ever seen 15 foot waves on Gitchee Gumee (Lake Superior) in November? That is life but it is also death. See story on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Colonial Land Conservation

There are White environmental groups who plague the city. This money is funneled from White conservation foundations who grant to White environmental organizations to save the bay or save the bike lane. There is an outright discrimination in philanthropy towards Native led groups as well.

You don’t see White environmental groups prioritizing Indigenous communities or talking about that colonization is still taking place through their work. They just tokenize Indigenous people and usually Indigenous men to maintain the stereotype of the strong Indian man warrior. Because warriors aren’t women or Two-Spirits, right?

Summer Tourism

The worst place to go in the summer is Traverse City swimming with a sea of tourists from Midwestern cities fleeing their colonial suburban homes. They want their taste of northern Michigan with easy access to overpriced shops and food snobbery. What you get is people who want easy access to consumption tourism. They don’t want to be where there is nobody or no sound – that’s too frightening.

Take Off the Mask

You might as well take off the mask Traverse City. Your true colors don’t have much color. You look a little peeked, pale, and famished. You have a problem and that is your provincial bubble of so called “liberalism.” But you are surrounding by red as a beet conservatism in Grand Traverse County.

The attitude from Traverse City to Manistee or any place else is arrogance. Just because the White road of success was laid out so you can have a cozy White life doesn’t mean you bash the folks who were born in dire poverty down by the river in Manistee. Your bourgeoisie Whiteness makes you a racist asshole. Many of those folks born down by the river happen to be Odawa Native American.

Racial Justice

White liberals in Traverse City don’t care about addressing racism. Having a “Human Rights Commission,” doesn’t mean much when there is discrimination in housing, work, and other areas in your city. Nothing to pat yourself on the back about. You have a lot of work to do. Tokenizing minorities in the workplace is racism.

Bad Medicine in Traverse City

I am pointing the finger at you and your nasty city. Most every person I have ever met from Traverse City with the exception of a very few has bad medicine. Every meeting I have gone there from work has turned to shit because the people are shit. I’ve heard “Manistee-tucky,” and “we are better than Manistee,” from mostly White hillbillies who think they are somehow above the realness of Manistee. I was there one time for work on my car and a White guy said, “you don’t look Native American, you look Pakistani.” Do you get out much from your White town? Then he went on to say, “the Native people around here are fat. They are lazy. They don’t live the culture.” The town is so full of racism that my list could go on and on.

From my point of view, the excessive amount of money (i.e. – Old Mission Colonial Peninsula) taints the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Members of this tribe are influenced by the gentry and bourgeoisie White liberalism that taints the land. The culture is not strong nor is it intact. The patriarchal Christian White influence has infiltrated the tribe. Money is driving the band and if you have money before culture you lose the people. My tribe is very poor but the culture is intact. There are manymanymany sober community members who do the work and help other community members heal across Anishinaabe Aki. This bad medicine in Traverse City has tainted any sort of centering Anishinaabe people in the region. I will not do work in Traverse City and avoid that place like the plague. If we have a meeting you can meet me in real salt of the Earth places such as Manistee or the anywhere in the UP!

Defending Manistee

Not revealing too much about who we are one thing I can know is Manistee is real. Manistee is far more diverse being inside the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians reservation. My friend visited from Detroit and was happy to see Black and mixed families in Manistee. We are real and not fake. Manistee is not without problems. Conservatives in Manistee here have encouraged my work on racial justice. They are acquaintances at the park and friends. When I first moved to Manistee I was impressed with Odawa kids playing with mixed race and Polish kids. There is racism here too and White liberals who deny there is a problem. Some have gone to Africa to paternalistically “help.” Some who say they are Christians when they find the biggest sand dune and bury their head in it when racism is in their own backyard. Manistee is working class and real. Thank you Manistee for creating allies with conservatives and doing community work with people that is truly inclusive.

“Settler states in the Americas are founded on, and maintained through, policies of direct extermination, displacement, or assimilation. The premise of each is to ensure that Indigenous peoples ultimately disappear as peoples, so that settler nations can seamlessly take their place. Because of the intensity of genocidal policies that Indigenous people have faced and continue to face, a common error on the part of antiracist and postcolonial theorists is to assume that genocide has been virtually complete, that Indigenous peoples, however unfortunately, have been 'consigned to the dustbin of history' (Spivak, 1994) and no longer need to be taken into account. Yet such assumptions are scarcely different from settler nation-building myths, whereby “Indians” become unreal figures, rooted in the nation’s prehistory, who died out and no longer need to be taken seriously.” – Decolonizing Antiracism by Bonita Lawrence and Enakshi Dua

Decolonial Community Work

Anishinaabe Aki is our home territory as Anishinaabe people. Anishinaabe includes Ojibway, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. However it also includes Oji-Cree, Mississauga, and Nipissing peoples. Our home territory is colonially known as Michigan, Northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, parts of North Dakota and parts of Manitoba. Through colonization and the fur trade we have an additional unique identity in our territory. Métis people are a group of Indigenous people who are federally recognized in Canada but not the United States. This identity is unique to the Great Lakes because of the French and Anishinaabe relationships. My ancestry is Ojibway, Métis, Nippising and Huron. Our Métis ancestry has been mixing since the late 1700’s on Mooniingwanekaaning-minis (Madeline Island, Wisconsin).

Not everyone can identify as Métis as it is unique to the Great Lakes and other settlements such as Red River in Manitoba. Understanding Métis ancestry is key to understanding and moving forward with centering Native people in racial justice work. Doing racial justice work in Anishinaabe Aki is acknowledging Métis ancestry and how colonization has impacted our people for a very long time.

This is what decolonial community work is about. It is more than looking at race through a Black and White lens. So often in racial justice work First Nations, Native and Métis people are left at the margins. You are either Black or White. This is a colonial concept that is racist in itself towards our people who span every skin tone, eye color, and hair color. There is no one look to Native people. When you are mixed race you are no longer one race. Blood quantum is a tool of genocide however Tribal governments adhere to strict blood quantum standards that were set up by the US government. These standards are not the way of our people. It is about family and community not what a colonial structure dictates.

Moving Beyond the Black and White Racial Binary

“As I shall discuss, because the Black/White binary paradigm is so widely accepted, other racialized groups like Latinos/as, Asian Americans, and Native Americans are often marginalized or ignored altogether. As Kuhn writes, "those that will not fit the box are often not seen at all.“ – The Black/White Binary Paradigm of Race: The Normal Science of American Racial Thought by Juan F. Perea

The Black and White racial binary defines only Blacks and Whites as key players in the pursuit for racial justice. This binary produces and promotes the exclusion of Native American and Métis people. This narrative is harmful for the healing of our people across Turtle Island. It is important to move beyond the great harm of the Black and White racial binary in racial justice work. In my work to bring racial justice work to Northern Michigan and to our Anishinaabe communities I have been disappointed. In the eyes of everyone is the United States we are made to be hyper invisible and when we bring up the harsh realities we face we are ignored, discredited, or silenced. It doesn’t help that in racial justice work we are made to be even more invisible. We can use the term “invisible minority,” to describe this harsh reality. If racial justice work fails to address colonization then this maintains settler colonialism and violent occupation and therefore maintains the racial binary.

Additionally, this paradigm defines as well as limits the set of problems when talking about race and racism. The United States is obsessed with this binary to maintain settler colonialism. Ignoring the lives and voices of Native people is purposeful erasure and invisibilization. This erasure comes in the form of statistical genocide in documents like reports, media, academia, and doctor forms.

Colonization Never Ended

What you won’t hear in mainstream or alternative news is that colonization never ended. If it ended we could properly address historical and generational trauma in our individual lives, families, and communities. Instead we deal with racism, mascots, stereotypes, and discrimination from the majority culture in addition to the issues within our own communities. Because of generational trauma these issues include: health disparities, youth suicide, abuse in all forms, and addiction plague our communities. We have experienced incredible land and culture loss that doesn’t get validated by the majority culture. We are supposed to be thankful for the little bit of land we now have called reservations. Empowering our people and healing our communities in the face of these great injustices is critical. However strengthening our communities is not enough when structural racism and oppression exist.

“To get a clearer picture, Mike Males, senior researcher at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, looked at data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected from medical examiners in 47 states between 1999 and 2011. When compared to their percentage of the U.S. population, Natives were more likely to be killed by police than any other group, including African Americans. By age, Natives 20-24, 25-34 and 35–44 were three of the five groups most likely to be killed by police. (The other two groups were African Americans 20-24 and 25-34.) Males’ analysis of CDC data from 1999 to 2014 shows that Native Americans are 3.1 times more likely to be killed by police than white Americans.” – The Police Killings No One Is Talking About by Stephanie Woodard

Statistics are faulty and not 100 percent accurate because of many Native people may identify or be misidentified as Hispanic, Latino or White. The latter misidentification is “Other,” which is racist in itself.

Centering Our People & Strengthening Our Communities

Colonization never ended on our lands, lives, bodies, and communities. It is beyond time to change the narrative around racial justice and the work that needs to be done. Decolonization is more than a hashtag – it is work. To make deep, meaningful, and lasting change the burden shouldn’t be on the shoulders of Native people alone to address racism. We need to address racial justice with the support of settlers and settlers of color. If our people are centered in this work then our lives and communities are strengthened. The movement for racial justice has always been. All daily actions are critical in the face on this tremendous burden we have to bear as Native people. The frontlines are our lives. Our existence is resistance. When we heal, when we choose sobriety, when we speak, when we rise – we are resisting. This is how we reclaim what was rightfully ours and build the beauty of our culture back into our lives.

]]>Poem: Ode to the Conservative Woman Who Helped to Heal MeCecelia Rose LaPointeSun, 11 Feb 2018 01:38:17 +0000http://www.anishinaabekwe.com/blog/poetry-conservative5640c6e7e4b0652a44ecd343:5652435be4b03dc95c7cb2db:5a7f9c6624a694ef1924a4afThe dim lights behind the curtain near the factories,You are closer to the low hum and rumbles,Closer to working class struggle of sounds that snuff out your dreams,Sounds that silence your screams,Sounds that perpetuate division,Across the small town – rez town,

The door opened,I greeted her and sat down,She said she should couldn’t stop crying,She showed me the book that she was reading,The Verbally Abusive Relationship,Expanded Third Edition,How to recognize it and how to respond,

The dim light,Curtains drawn,Low hum working class sounds,Mold and mildew smells,How to respond?

I too was frozen

She cried in her bedroom,She said she couldn’t stop crying,The love she felt,It never went away,

I too was frozen

How to respond?But to close the door,To listen to the low hum,Watch the steam rise from the factories at night,The food bank corn,The Kmart shoes,The tears soiling sheets,

She too was frozen

The conservative woman in Manistee, Michigan,Aninshinaabe Aki,Was this woman,Was me,

The book I emphasized as resources to others,I sat gazing out the window,Crunched up in a ball,Sipping tea,Laying my asema on the snow,Dim lights flickering,Bad wiring for the working poor,The factory smoke,The low hum on the land,

I was frozen,She was frozen,We were frozen,But we were healing together.

]]>Poem: I Went to the Racist Work EnvironmentCecelia Rose LaPointeThu, 11 Jan 2018 00:34:46 +0000http://www.anishinaabekwe.com/blog/poem-racismwork5640c6e7e4b0652a44ecd343:5652435be4b03dc95c7cb2db:5a56ae3de2c483db35a61c99No one supports for real

It is the fashionable “activist” thing to say you went somewhere,That you went to Standing Rock,That you got that “badge,”That you are a part of a “movement,”

White Liberals Always Abandon You,

Some White liberals are happy bullying you,They are racist but “God-colonial-willing,”They will go to Africa instead of seeing you,They have 60 plus acres of stolen land,Resources and access to more things than I ever,

White liberals eat and hoard,Hoard and eat,Devour our land,Always hungry for more land “conservation,”In a do-gooder-feel-good-gold-star-kind way,I am White and a liberal shouting from the Manistee National Forest,I done did good you see me and my colonial might,Meanwhile pushing-hiding the Ojibway/Metis Two-Spirit,For colonial fame and unearned fortune,

This abuse is for real,I am calling it out,I am tired of the white liberal festishizing us,Simultaneously hiding and silencing us,For the power and might of the colonial control of the wee-town,They are sinners according to their “God,”

Gchi wiigwam

Tiny houses are racist since we always had the entire land,Water,Abundance of food,Abundance of love,

Nothing tiny is who we are as Anishinaabe,Star knowledge is not tiny,It is only this new idea of colonial exclusion in which we need to be tiny,For the sake of tokenizing on a panel,

It is our inherit right to have everything expansive as the night sky,Decolonization means reclamation of this unparalleled expanse,

Racially Hostile Work Environments

Trying to make it and stumbling into the colonial oppression,I went to racist work environment on numerous occasions,I am treated as the other in othering ways,White liberals turn a blind eye and they go to Africa instead,They are colonial bastards,

The racist work environment on numerous occasions,Became numerous occasions,For millions of First Nations,Inuit,Metis,Mestizo,Indigenous,On Turtle Island,

The colonial people in their tudor clothes,Click click click down the hall,To gossip about that mad Indian,Pshht – why is she so mad?I don’t understand – thaha – that Indian should be grateful for these pennies we give her,Pieces of porridge in a tupperware bowl,For the corner of the pie,For the corner of the rez,For the corner of a book,For the corner of chaffed identity,

I’m looking for clothes that aren’t colonially chafing me,As I move about and try to live you see,

The work environment,Defined by the colonizer,Under colonial wage and labor laws,As defined by colonial anti-discrimination laws,As defined by the colonial EEOC,Now it shall be resolved that discrimination will occur in settler colonialism,

The Non-Community

Every white liberal parades down the street with a “community building” banner,I didn’t know 500 likes on anti-social media meant community,I “hearted” your status,Superficial dopamine sugar highs without the depth of meaning,The non-community is what is real,Not everyone wants your version of “community,”Your version ignored these daily cuts of racism,And tokenizes our pain,It is why we walked neared the edge,But you feel good with your empty words and liberal abuse,That simultaneously marginalizes us even more,

The land as my arm

My arm endured these cuts,From these racist work environments,This is the war machine,On my body,On my soul,

I went to the racist work environment,I survived war on my body,Mind,And Soul,

This movement is within me,Within the prayers of our ancestors,This healing fire and cleansing power,My voice is reclamation!My body is mine!My soul is bright!I am a warrior!

Rezitorial lines,It's my river,I'm tired of all the space you take up,Move aside patriarch!It's my space!

]]>Poem: Warrior WithinCecelia Rose LaPointeThu, 30 Nov 2017 02:18:44 +0000http://www.anishinaabekwe.com/blog/poem-warrior5640c6e7e4b0652a44ecd343:5652435be4b03dc95c7cb2db:5a1f69ef085229745ef372ebThere is a warrior within that can rise above,There is a warrior within that can rise above in the face of oppression,There is a warrior within that can rise above in the face of addiction,There is a warrior within that can rise above in the face of sadness,There is a warrior within that can rise above in the face of anger,Intense rage,Intense depression,Intense helplessness,The warrior knows the heart and soul can rise above,The feelings of powerlessness,The feelings of defeat,The soul can rise,The heart in pain,Can heal,There is a warrior within that can rise above with bravery,The warrior has always been there,The warrior can remove layers of shame,Guilt,Darkness surrounds the warrior,The warrior within can sweep aside the darkness,The warrior is powerful,The warrior has a voice,See yourself as the warrior that is present,Peaceful,Content,Healed,And healing,Valuable,Loved,By your family,Parents,Sisters,Friends,Relatives,Cousins,Aunts,Uncles,Grandparents,Ancestors from all directions and sides,The warrior can find strength within,Remember there is a warrior within that can rise above.

It starts with King Henry VIII,Do not press hard on my ribs,Remove the chains around my lungs,My heart,The cloak,It’s done,Burn it in the fire,To cleanse,

The chains,They left scars,My heart is in pain,Unhinge slowly,Start to breathe,It is okay to breath,Please breath,

Part 2

It’s time to leave the Tower,I am tired of gazing out into the sea,The smell of mold from the chambers,The darkness of the bedroom,That one window that faces the sea,I am tired of the royal show,The royal garb,The crown jewels,The performance for the court,My enemies in the court gossip and sneer,Meek and timid,Too afraid to face me directly,I travel these cold halls in the Tower alone,

Part 3

What is hidden we will shine light on,The mold in the bedroom,The torture of the soul,525 years yet to face,Sexual violence,Assault,Pain,The mold will die when the light enters,Housing,Justice,Free yourself from the self-made – colonially-made prison,

Part 4

You keep talking about,London,England,Britain,As if we are still Tudors,The origin of colonial crisis is in the soul,

Part 5

Land acquisition,The court and betrayal,The melding of colonization and patriarchy,Dominion and torture,Working class peasantry,Bread in the court on the royal banquet table,Spilled on the floor,We dust it clean,But the trauma returns,We shake hands and smile above the oubliette,

Part 6

The dresses are gone,The exit is clear,I found the stairs to leave,Anne Boleyn is peacefully resting now,The crown is no longer hers,

I want Anishinaabe Aki,I am gazing at our land before colonization,Before the execution,Persecution,Patriarchy,Accusations of adultery and witchcraft,My body was not assaulted in the name of Christ,Our bodies were healed,We had great love in our communities,Traditional governance meant traditional matriarchy,We tend to these decolonial baskets,

Mishomis is harvesting manoomin,As healing as this is,His hands point to where we need to heal in our bodies,Zaagidewin mishomis,

I can’t wait until our own people start to protest lateral violence within our Anishinaabe communities. I can’t wait until we start demanding action be taken and misogynistic tribal councilor’s are removed. I can’t wait to see the mass of Anishinaabe people at Tribal government buildings demanding that corruption be stopped. I can’t wait to see our people with protests signs that say – LOVE WATER NOT ALCOHOL. I can’t wait until we stop running from our own communities and do the work within.

I am aware of “large actions” against Line 5 – “the straits sunken hazard.” However I am even more aware of the apparent visible hazards of addiction, sexual abuse, and lateral violence within our Anishinaabe communities. We need not run from these problems but to face them directly. This is the greatest direct action!

The problem with anti-social media is no one can have 5,000 “friends” or “followers.” That is a small town you’ve accumulated in a virtual un-reality. Even in small towns not everyone gets along. This is why small towns are often quiet and the curtains are drawn because it is better to keep to yourself.

Personally, I am at a breaking point with the lateral violence. This is a call for help. This is a decolonial treatise, if you will.

Decolonization – For Real

I have been involved in community work (I don't use the word activism) since I was 12 years old when I fought against gentrification in my hometown of Royal Oak, Michigan. Now Royal Oak is a place I wouldn’t want to live. For 7 years I have resided in the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Territory – or colonially known as Manistee, Michigan. I have a love and hate relationship with this place. Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is a non-community meaning there is no community with this tribe. The level of heteropatriarchy and misogyny is extreme here. As an Ojibway/Métis Two-Spirit, I have experienced more lateral violence here than I can count from men and women. On the flipside, there are also people who supported me in crisis, usually more conservative people. Mostly what I love about Naaminitigong (Manistee) is the land and water. The non-community troubles me but fuels my life work.

Heal Yourself to Heal Your People

Fighting a pipeline is bullshit when you haven’t healed yourself. If you are struggling with an addiction seek help right now. Stop running from your pain. Besides big oil will win and it is better to get to the root cause of trauma within our communities that continuously fight against one another. Big oil doesn’t care about Treaty Rights or Native American rights, we all know this. You aren’t going to change big oil’s mind with a protest and they actually think it’s funny you are out there “resisting.” It is the same old song and nothing will change by screaming at cars driving by on the Mackinaw Bridge. This is Michigan and I come from a Ford family. My great-Grandfather was a Union Organizer who assisted in the building and the founding the UAW (United Auto Workers). Without the ancestors hard and monotonous labor we wouldn’t have the world that we have today. We need cars because we can get to protests. Otherwise how do you get there? So what solutions do you propose post oil and post auto industry? The auto industry has a strong hold on Michigan and these actions won't change it any time soon. I praise the auto industry for innovation and changing our world. Do I love the auto industry? No, I am not in love with it and changes can be made within it.

I’m Sick of Standing Rock

For those of us who resisted in our home territory we see that Standing Rock did nothing to heal you. Are you really a warrior when you attack your own people? You are not a warrior when you degrade, insult, and bully another person. I am sick of hearing about people who went to Standing Rock. So what? I went to the racist work environment on numerous occasions. I wake up in the colonial white supremacist land as a Two-Spirit every single day boldly walking a sober road. The frontlines are our lives and not this show of power and ego when it comes to “resistance.”

Authenticity

If you are authentic in your work you need not make a show of it. This is ego as well as insecurity. If you are a true warrior then live it and say nothing of your work. I am not interested in a show of power or a show of ego (insecurity). You prove you are more in alignment with Diocletian or King Henry VIII when you do this. I believe in the old Anishinaabe ways. I believe in what the ancestral and hereditary Chiefs in my lineage might say. Blood memory means we may feel this or get insights via dreams, intuition, etc. This leadership is often not even welcome in our own Anishinaabe communities. Leadership is nurtured throughout one’s lifetime. It is not something you attain and then know everything. If you think like this then you are still in alignment with King Henry VIII and not Ogema Waub Aijaak (Chief White Crane). Leading an authentic life means you don’t need validation of your work by anyone.

Zaagidewin – Love Is the Solution

My treatise doesn’t declare surrendering. In fact, I am gaining strength. I am tired of “water protectors,” who are violent towards their own people or smoke “medical marijuana” around their Anishinaabe children. Anishinaabe are around other Anishinaabe at events and no one can talk to each other. Then you bully me because I am strong, independent, fierce, educated, creative, intellectual, healed, and healing. You say I am “intense” because I work very hard for our communities. You lack intensity because you are normal and boring. I challenge the patriarchy within men and women. I challenge those who who hog the stage and are not allowing anyone else to be up there. This is not the work of our people or in our 7 Grandmother (ehem) and Grandfather Teachings. There are elders who are not passing the torch to the next leaders so I will make my own place to lead without ya’ll supporting me. This brokenness needs repair.

There is no Anishinaabe “community.” There is no “Michigan Native community.” At this point the oppressor has won. Colonization and genocide has never ended and we are now continuing this oppression in our own non-communities towards each other. All the buzz words of “resistance,” “decolonization,” and “water protection,” fail because we need to empower our people by and for each other. Forget the pipeline – get alcohol off of our tribal lands!

I love my parents. I love my family. I love the LaPointe’s. I love the Sanborn's. I love the land. I love the water. I love Michigamig. I even love my enemies. These are my teachings. The more hate, anger, jealousy, hostility, and lateral violence you send me the more I grow my love. This garden I tend is beautiful – can you see it? This work is lonely but I continue forward working from – zaagidewin – love. Chi miigwech Mishomis LaPointe for supporting me from the so called “other side.” You are always with us.

The neighborhood,Village,Was like a small town,In a spiraling Megalopolis,There was a sense of safety,In a small radius,

Oooo how I longed for trees!Trees and trees!Dirt roads,Water,Land of my ancestors,Anishinaabe Aki,

Instead as a youth,Making prank calls from payphones on Lafayette and uptown,My shoes wore out by the end of summer time,Embracing the Sagittarius fire of rebellion,Making conservative Catholics nervous,When I tore down posters in their school,Because your on our land and in my hood,I don’t like your chimes,I don’t like that you were dismissive of my Mom’s heart,

My energy to infinity,With an olde school rotary phone in hand,I make phone calls to friends so we can stand on the sewer caps,Recite poetry or dance out some Motown on the steel,My best friend grew up in Crane (AJIJAAK) Avenue,I grew up near the once dead and dying downtown before,It’s actual death when the colonization of gentrification occurred,

With petitions in hand I held my Momma’s hand and fought against,“this is truly a Royal Oak,”

I attended my first city commission meeting at 12 years old,Mayor Dennis Coward said,“the girl in the orange shirt,”I rose from my seat,Spoke against the city,I learned that day that the city gentry doesn’t care about the proletariat,

Or I found places to hide,Was naturally hidden by the racial binary in the Metro,Which drew out pain,Which drew out generational trauma,To discover the Androgynous Man in Brown Pants,Who’s ancestry spirals and rolls on the waves of Gitchee Gumee,Following the migration story to our ancestral homeland,With Ajijaak dodem migration storied leadership,Ascending,Descending,To rise again and fly,The silence of Ajijaak could erase the pain of streaky palms on a school desk,When I was made invisible by colonial school books,

We stayed south of 11 Mile road,Although our south side was safer than most south sides,But was it safe for mixed race Indian kids?

What does safety mean when you have racist class mates?Racist teachers,That dress themselves as do gooder white liberals,Cosmopolitan city folk who adopt Indigenous children from Peru,

11 mile road,I run across it,Running,I run south,I run north,I’m free.

Someone once asked the androgynous man in brown pants,“Why aren’t you married?”She replied, “why does the patriarchy exist?”You would think that he would make a beautiful partner,Of course the “house wife” would be the Two-Spirit man partner,To cook for him,Clean,Tidy up,Wash windows,Fold the linens,Sweep up sorrows and old traumas accordingly,After all the Two-Spirit man partner owes him this,The androgynous man in brown pants,In his old soul ways,Has taken the pile of keys and stacked them next to books,They have prepared themselves for misunderstanding,From the humans on Earth,

Checklist

I fooled you at female,I fooled you at male,The checklist is annoying,You will not find me in small boxes,Where I get nervous filling in the information,To these colonial-white man-makes me sick white paperwork,

My checklist is on birch bark,Touched with the blood memory seeping through my fingers,This is the checklist I hold,As the memories of the ancestors,Make their way to my heart,My spirit feels at home,

Continuous gardening

Nimaamaa handed them a poem at 15 years old,From her left hand,Sitting at her desk in the dining room,The poem was about tending to your own garden,Nurturing your own soul,I read it and leaped up the stairs to my room,Exclaiming, "I will get a Master's degree and not rely on a man!"The same applies to this day,So they tend,Tend,Tend,

The patriarchy has proven its laziness,The diagnosis is stagnation,As a Two-Spirit they do it all,They work,Maintain,Tidy,Grow,Live,Breath,Love,Decolonize,Heal,Repair,Cleanse,

Man’s Work

All around are images on women,Patriarchal women,Cheap women,Appeasing the man’s needs,Human sexuality is odd,For much of human’s existence on this Earth,The whole act hasn’t been based on love,Does anyone on this Earth know what true love is?

Can you hear me out there?Jiibay Zibi,Bugonagiizhig,Madoo’asinik,Gaagige Giizhig,Anung Nibwakawin

Before colonization the shoreline of the Great Lakes was 100% Anishinaabe, Algonquin, and Haudenosaunee operated and maintained. Using the word “ownership,” has colonization and dominion attached to it so it is best to use English words that have a less colonizing tone. Could you imagine how beautiful the shoreline was with no gigantic towering mansions or yacht clubs? Could you imagine no hateful anti-Indian sentiment because we can do what we have been doing for thousands of years which is hunt, fish, and gather as our innate right as the original people of this land? The beauty of Anishinaabe Aki before colonization was beyond words, cliché saying, but beyond English words more specifically, eh? What would it be like if we could stand along the shore without getting the White gaze and racial macro-aggression from the penny millionaire tourists who think we shouldn’t be there? The water was pure and there was no pipelines running underneath certain areas like the Straits of Mackinac near Mackinac Island, which was a ceremonial place for our Anishinaabe people for thousands of years.

Then came the terra nullius (Latin for “nobody’s land”) believers and Christian inquisitionist to save us when we didn’t need saving at all. Then came Father Marquette and Bishop Baraga. Indians needed Christianity because we were sinners and not living according to the great patriarchal colonial and abusive father, who had long before broken down the tribes of Europe. Then came land being divided up and sold. “Manifest Destiny,” meant colonization, genocide, assimilation, and the creation of the biggest form of environmental racism, the reservation system. Land allotments and land for sale for the hungry immigrant who ran from persecution only to persecute us. Then came poverty created by White patriarchal settler colonialism. Then our women were regulated to wear skirts and cook for men and no longer made the men cook for us. As our traditional economies, harvesting, and gathering of foods prior to colonization had gender balance. Then came abuse, silencing, denying depression, which led to greater oppression, because we were not allowed to speak about the abhorrent land, culture, and soul loss. We had to “integrate” into patriarchal White settler colonialism only to be marginalized, oppressed further, discriminated against, denied access to our waterways, harvesting traditional foods, and denied existence in a consistent racially discriminating majority culture.

What is Shoreline Entitlement?

“For those in power in the West… Whiteness is felt to be the human condition… it alone defines normality and fully inhabits it… White people have power and believe that they think, feel and act like and for all people; White people, unable to see their particularity, cannot take account of other people’s; White people create dominant images of the world and don’t quite see that they thus construct the world in their own image; White people set the standards of humanity by which they are bound to succeed and others bound to fail. Most of this is not done deliberately and maliciously; there are enormous variations in power amongst White people to do with class, gender, and other factors; goodwill is not unheard of in White people’s engagement with others. White power none the less reproduces itself regardless of intention, power differences and goodwill, and overwhelmingly because it is not seen as Whiteness, but as normal.” – Richard Dyer, White: Essays on Race and Culture

White possession is a regime of power while infiltrates all larger systems.

Denial of woman’s and Two-Spirit's space on the shoreline and waterways.

USDA report (Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2007)

The Disease of Colonization

“Race matters in the lives of all peoples; for some people it confers unearned privileges, and for others it is the mark of inferiority. Daily newspapers, radio, television, and social media usually portray Indigenous peoples as a deficit model of humanity. We are overrepresented as always lacking, dysfunctional, alcoholic, violent, needy, and lazy whether we are living in Illinois, Auckland, Honolulu, Toronto, or Brisbane. For Indigenous people, White possession is not unmarked, unnamed, or invisible; it is hypervisible.” – The White Possessive: Property, Power, and Indigenous Sovereignty, by Aileen Moreton-Robinson

White possession is very visible to Native people as in land, when we want to hunt, when we want to put our boat on the water and fish, when we want to enjoy a walk along the shoreline of one of the Great Lakes, or knowing that the dialogue on “natural resources” focuses on patriarchal “environmentalism” as a special White middle class interest. Often non-Native people will say things, “why is so and so defensive?” The majority of Native people can personally attest to discrimination and racism which leads us to be on the defense at all times or we have severe trauma not just from the majority culture but within our own non-communities because of blood quantum, tribal politics, and internalized oppression. We are survivors of genocide who are told to “get over it,” while being simultaneously discriminated against, stereotyped via mascots, and our issues blatantly censored in the lamestream media. Additionally, we have to exist within White possessions, space, and entitlement while explaining our identity when we don’t fit into the stereotypical perspective of what it means to be Indian. Finally, the visibility of White possession outright ignores sovereignty, land, and Native lives through colonial legislation, injustice systems, police, military, family systems, and “property rights.”

Where White possession is most visible is along the shoreline of the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Michigan. Think about the land before colonization. I always am but my viewpoint is rare because it is not steeped in patriarchy but the strong foundation of my ancestors from a Two-Spirit matriarchal view. In the summer I spend a lot of time on the shoreline. Often engaging in prayer or running/walking. This is one way to decolonize daily. Decolonization is every single step. When the White gaze comes my way from tourists who think Indians don't exist anymore I just stare right back at them. I advocate for my serenity and peace. With serenity I can counter racism and bigotry with love (zaagidewin). Therefore, I stand on the shore while holding it down with decolonized love for the land, water, our relations, ancestors, family, community, and healing. What is powerful is holding the space when as Native people we have very little space.

The Dawes Act of 1887 – Land for Sale, Private Property

The truth is that White space is backed by federal laws in the colonial United States. Redlining occurred in the major metropolitan areas in the United States so there was concentrated poverty within communities of color and White space in the suburbs. For Native American people White space took everything and blocked our beautiful way of life in terms of traditional economies. Every molecule of our existence and livelihood was swallowed up and backed by federal laws. The Dawes Act of 1887 has four important stipulations which occur in an order that describes colonization and land loss. These stipulations include the following: imposed individual land ownership, heirship, surplus land was opened up to White settlement, and checker boarding.

A poem I wrote in 1998. I was 16 years old.

What Settlers Can Do

Settlers don’t think much about Native people. The general theme is everything is fine, I’ve got mine, and I’ll feel good if I send $20 to the local soup kitchen. Settler colonialism has purposefully erased us and established a colonial nation with States. Within States there are Counties. Within Counties there are Cities, Towns, Townships, Villages, and Unincorporated Villages. The un-incorporation sounds like it business, eh? It is a colonial business and it has gone on way too long. Settlers play a part in this business as maintained by the federal government to local government. It is all the same.

Settlers seem to be in denial of the problem like an addiction. This occupied land by the colonial business of the United States is an addiction. Many countries around the world don’t like the United States. You can see why. Although these countries are not perfect in how they have treated Indigenous people yet Canada, New Zealand, and Australia have at least started working reconciliation issues. Meanwhile in the colonial United States there has been no movement. Resource colonization, environmental racism, and job discrimination is continued colonization. If you think colonization is over you are colonization denial and need to check into a decolonization anonymous group!

Settlers don’t know where to start. Usually they want to work more and disconnect from their children by working 80 hours a week. They want to numb out in front of TV or eat toxic foods. They believe the “history” books in high school and pledge allegiance to genocide. This land is not your land as this land is Native land. Actually admitting you have a problem doesn’t mean you are enlightened. By acknowledging you see and want to listen to Native people you are on the first step to being a settler ally. Most settlers in the United States have a problem.

Efforts to Honor Us and Our Shoreline

I believe we are being honored more than my Grandfather’s time. There are water ceremonies and awareness drawn to communities like Aamjiwnaang First Nation in occupied Sarnia, Ontario, to water walks in many of our tribal communities throughout the entire Great Lakes. However we have a lot of work to do to fully bring healing and justice within our Anishinaabe communities. The stereotype is that Indian’s have casinos so they are fine now. This is not true at all. Land loss is culture loss. We need space for grieving and healing. We need space to be honored and acknowledged. We need more space to the shoreline without fear of dealing with racism whether enjoying the Great Lakes or fishing. Honor us and work hard to do so because our existence is resistance in the persistence of this toxicity of settler colonization. Some of us are working hard to survive in this great oppression and rise above. Work harder for us and be aware of more than your privilege. Like any addiction after you acknowledge you have a problem you work hard to heal the root cause.

]]>Poem: Standing on the Frontlines in Anishinaabe AkiCecelia Rose LaPointeFri, 24 Mar 2017 02:46:07 +0000http://www.anishinaabekwe.com/blog/poem-frontlinesanishinaabe5640c6e7e4b0652a44ecd343:5652435be4b03dc95c7cb2db:58d47973a5790aef1e910f04What does the first memory of racism mean?If the Grandfathers and Grandmothers are with us,If the ancestors are with us,What does the first memory mean?If blood memory means feeling,If blood memory means healing,Does it mean I can final feel and release what Grandpa LaPointe endured?My Great-Grandparents?Madeline Cadotte?Waub Ajijaak?

I recall friends in my hometown saying,“Me sled downhill on bones,”In a derogatory tone,Mocking stereotyped and broken Native American speech,I said to them,“If you don’t stop I will walk home,”They didn’t stop and I walked home alone,In the cold white suburbs on that end of summer day,Along the railroad tracks,Looking south at the Detroit haze,My mind through the train yard to the rivers,Looking north at the unknown from 12 Mile Road and up,Angry and hurt,

Or was it the white girl in high school joking about,“Wanting her land back,”

The white man got the job before me,The white woman got the job before me,I wasn’t hired as the “token minority” in Detroit,Because of the harm of the Black and White racial binary,Discredits and ignores Native lives from the start of Grand River,To 36 Mile Road,I was allocated to unemployment,Underemployment,

Making movement out of poverty,Now here is your chance,But the racist white liberal in lily white Traverse City says,Maybe we need to treat you with more harm,Maybe we need to treat you harsh,Maybe you don’t deserve any job,

And on my own I have cried in the shower,My tears blended with the water,Why is this happening to me?When will it end?

The words are continuing to come,These racist words are all around me,I jot them down,I am taking more notes,They say they will do cultural diversity training,They aren’t taking action fast enough,

The hostility increases,It is hard for me to be here,I am barely functioning,More racial microaggresions,More covert racism,I am yelled at when I ask them to take this seriously,

I couldn’t take it anymore,So I “filed the paperwork,”I couldn’t breathe anymore,I feel like I didn’t want to be here anymore,I’m filing the paperwork,Shaking with deep soul wounds,As I write down my addendum to the “Charge of Discrimination,”On my kitchen table in Manistee,

The last moment,She appeared in the bathroom mirror,Cecelia Shalifoe was with me,She is behind me,I see her old clothes,I feel her spirit,I’m not alone,I’m fighting for the ancestors when they had no platform to speak,Cecelia was there in spirit,To have her life and pain validated through this action,

I won this case as far as colonial justice can go,But it is never over,Racism is on every inch of this land if you are Anishinaabe,

Standing on the frontlines in Anishinaabe Aki,I hold an anti-racist sign daily,Because I can’t afford a billboard campaign,Do you see my sign?I’ve never gained “likes” and an online “following,”No one started a gofundme for all the racism I’ve experienced,My issues aren’t made popular on whitestream and lamestream media,I didn’t have aid sent to me in mass,Surprisingly it was conservative allies who stood with me and encouraged me to speak,Actually white liberals left when it became too uncomfortable to face racism in their own backyard,Except they run off to Standing Rock,Not Eagle Rock,Not Benzie County,Or Manistee,Not Ispheming,Thunder Bay,Winnipeg,Or da Soo,My story didn’t happen in isolation,So this is why I share it,

It never stopped,2 EEOC cases later,I’m sorting through files,I keep adding to folders,Sometimes it is racial microaggression or bigotry in a grocery store,Other times its people thinking I have too much money for a minority,

Standing on the frontlines means everyday life for Native people,My existence is resistance,Our existence is resistance!

This is my Ojibway/Métis Two-Spirit introduction and declaration. I never felt called to go to Standing Rock. I have had enough violations, violence, racism, discrimination, bullying, and hate in my life that I didn’t need to voluntarily subject myself to further torture. I did not receive “likes” or hundreds of comments for enduring workplace discrimination on numerous occasions nor did I gain internet “followers” who saw my documentation of the horrors of racism and taking action against this injustice. The reason I mention standing up for myself and taking action is because where is everyone in everyday life supporting Indigenous people right where you live? Everyone felt the need to run off to Standing Rock. It is bad everywhere – racism is right out your front door and on every inch of this land. Taking action against a racially hostile work environment deserves equal treatment from so called “allies.” Additionally, the violence of heteropatriarchal settler colonialism oppression is still here and this means we live in a racist world. I have a right to my serenity and peace given the oppression I have faced and struggles I have overcome. Do you see why I didn’t want to go out to Standing Rock?

Please note that this piece doesn’t represent Red Circle Consulting, Waub Ajijaak Press, or any of the organizations that I’ve consulted with or currently work with. This piece represents Ojibway/Metis Two-Spirit self-determination and sharing my voice based in reporting live from Anishinaabe Aki. Additionally, I work with Honor the Earth and they had a main presence at Standing Rock. I was indirectly but directly involved in the work there but mostly behind the scenes. This is frontline work that should be validated and is just as equally important labor.

Environmental Racism Since 1492

There are currently at least 532 superfund sites in Indian Country. A sacred site that my tribe – the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, which was battled for 11 years is being mined beneath. This site is Migizi Wa Sin – Eagle Rock. We have no access to this sacred site as it is gated with a barbed wire fence. This didn’t garner international attention and probably never will. Yet, people and some distant relatives from my tribe camped out, resisted, and were arrested. Migizi Wa Sin is one battle of many that was fought and lost because or resource colonization, environmental violence, and environmental racism. Therefore, environmental racism has existed since 1492. Environmental racism is the reservation or reserve system. Environmental violence is the availability of alcohol, drugs, and toxic foods on our lands and within reservation boundaries. Environmental violence also includes: reproductive injustice, sterilization of our women, mining, pipelines, toxic buildings, and discrimination towards Two-Spirits.

Racism and Assault in Everyday Life

Most non-Native people were shocked at the level of militarized violence at Standing Rock. I'm not minimizing the oppression, pain, trauma, collective trauma, or colonial state sanctioned militarized violence that happened there. However I wasn’t shocked because every turn you make in the world as a Native person can mean you will face discrimination, racism, hate, and violence. The majority culture didn’t absolve itself of its sins by showing up for a week, 3 weeks, or 3 months at Standing Rock. Action needs to be taken every day and where you live.

Native people are still invisible. Our issues are still ignored. The root cause of the many issues we face are not addressed. One can’t live traditionally and harvest wild rice when land has been divided up by the Dawes Act. If we want to ice fish we can only do so in locations where we will not experience racism. We are not allowed into certain areas, cities, or towns because we will never be allowed into a certain income bracket. Sometimes we are heckled by just walking down the street or shopping in a grocery store. The colonial creation of poverty is racism. How much alcohol is piped into tribal communities? How do we stop this form of environmental violence and racism? There are many questions to be raised and discussions to be had. Walls need to be broken and bridges need to be built. This always needs to be Indigenous led by and for our people.

Plains Indians are Only the Real Indians

The world became obsessed with Standing Rock. The world didn’t become obsessed with Eagle Rock – Migizi Wa Sin, Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Neskantaga First Nation, systemic racism in Thunder Bay or Winnipeg, Ontario, etc. It became obsessed with the Plains tribe. As an Ojibway/Métis I see this obsession with other Native groups who are often viewed as the “real Indians.” Here in the Great Lakes our ancestry has been mixing for a long time hence my Ojibway/Métis identity and heritage. We are still real Indians despite the bogus blood quantum standard set up to prove being Indian, which the US government created for annihilation purposes. I believe the reason Standing Rock gained so much attention is because the majority culture has lumped "Plains Indians," into a group and therefore this social construction of the "real Indian" exists. Hence the obsession and widespread cultural appropriation with the "Plains Indians" headdress. The majority culture has been fetishizing, romanticizing, and appropriating "Plains Indians" for a long time. Would this movement in Standing Rock had been as large if the tribe was a less well known tribe? Probably not!

Celebrities

My personal belief is that there is no reason to trust any celebrity who showed up at Standing Rock. They are not amplifying our voices as Native people. They are amplifying their voices. They have never lived on a reservation, or lived the life of a Native person, nor can the ever speak for us. Frankly, I will not give them any power or allow them to speak for me. They aren’t doing anything radical then going home to their plush home and existence. Posting on anti-social media with hashtags doesn’t make you radical. Actions in everyday life make you radical. I believe they need to stay far away from Indigenous led movements and let us lead!

The Money Trail

Meanwhile there are many water issues and continuous states of emergencies in many First Nations and Native communities across Turtle Island. I encourage everyone to read about Neskantaga First Nation. Not minimizing oppression or the militarized violence that took place at Standing Rock but it is not the only place where all action is needed. So where are all the donations going? Can anyone answer this? Millions of dollars were donated but we don’t know where it is going. How can we trust that the money is being spent for what it has been raised for? In searching on gofundme.com for “Standing Rock,” 6,069 results come up. Some of these results include money raised for: compost toilets, wood stoves, yurts, solar trailers, tattoos, and general winter supplies. Another fundraising website called YouCaring.com had 392 results for Standing Rock. There were fundraisers for things such as: Support the Traditional Elders of Standing Rock or Water is Life: Two-Spirit Warriors & Water Protectors. Specifically I commend fundraisers for elders and Two-Spirits. However, where is all this money actually going for everything else?

The Standing Rock Obsession

I had nearly a dozen people ask me, “are you going to Standing Rock?” I am not a mainstream person and I believe this movement was hijacked by mainstream people, big green NGO’s, and celebrities. Many “activists,” are pretty darn mainstream in how they live by ingesting alcohol, drugs, television, etc. I don’t identify as an activist but a “community worker” in a world where we have “non-community.” I am glad visibility was brought to Native people but I felt it was brought in a fetishized way, yet again.

No I didn’t want to live in a tipi. I am Ojibway and my ancestors lived in a traditional birch bark house called the wiigwam. This became all people focused on. From the moment this movement took a more mainstream approach, which it did once the big green’s showed up, I knew that I didn’t want to be there. Some other Native folks called the camp, “sacred stone colony.” Yes being colonized by white people thinking that they are helping the Indians. Not interested in your white liberalism and fetishization of me, my family, relatives, or ancestors. This obsession took a colonial turn and I knew it wasn’t for me. I decided to stay at home in Anishinaabe Aki and hold it down on the land and water here. Praying and doing work in your home territory is just as important. Warriors need to stay and pray! This is everyday resistance!

Moving Beyond the Typical “Frontlines,” Definition

Many people have felt called to go to Standing Rock from many Indigenous nations across Turtle Island and the world. Many warriors were called by the ancestors to go to Standing Rock. This is a very respectable and resilient action. However as a Two-Spirit I have questioned my safety even in a space that could be designated safe for me hence the Two-Spirit camp at Standing Rock. I don’t mean safety as in violence but safety as in how I live my life. That I would be required to wear a skirt when this is a colonial concept. Men and men identifying people also wore skirts traditionally. I would constantly have to demand space for myself and this gets exhausting. Additionally, as an introvert how would I manage being at a camp with people who I couldn’t necessarily trust? I don’t thrive on being around people because as an introvert they drain me.

There has been a direct and violent attacks towards warriors and I am not minimizing their efforts, heart, or soul because this is state sanctioned oppression that our Indigenous warriors seek to challenge. There are frontlines at Standing Rock and there are frontlines in daily life. We get caught up in what “frontlines,” work means and we need to expand our definition. For some the frontlines are making it through a day, surviving colonial imposed economic poverty, surviving racism, healing themselves, addiction recovery, mentoring a youth to rise above oppression, or taking care of an abandoned elder. Defining “warrior,” as someone always at the “frontlines,” is bogus and closed minded. Warriors for our people are everywhere. A warrior is a single mom living in poverty who loves their child with so much love. A warrior is someone in recovery and taking it, yes, one day at a time. A warrior is someone who stands up against racism in the workplace. A warrior is someone who survives community ostracizing and being an outcast. A warrior is someone who has no one to call when in a time of trouble but makes it through the day, week, month, years, or their life. A warrior is someone who never knows true love or never has a partner but continues living in the world. A warrior is someone who has no family, networks, resources, or a place to truly call home. A warrior is the prisoner. A warrior is the silenced never given a space to share their voice. Remember us!

Healing Justice

Since the resistance camps at Standing Rock were supposed to be a sober space I’m wondering how many people there chose recovery from their addictions? This is more than fighting the black snake. It is about fighting the illness which has been internalized. This illness could be addiction in any form: alcoholism, marijuana, pharmaceuticals, sexual, social media, etc. This illness could be eating toxic foods. This illness could be accepting a toxic masculine mindset to plague your life. This illness could be violence towards the self or others. This illness is the illness of patriarchy, rape culture, the sexualization of the female body, and sexual violence towards any gender or gender identity. There is certainly a lot to heal in our world. We all have a lot of work to do. No one person carries this burden on their shoulders alone.

Healing justice is difficult work because it goes unnoticed in a very boisterous, narcissistic, and “selfie” world. Does anyone talk on the phone anymore? Since the dawn of 140 characters and accumulating “followers,” I have found that people rarely respond to emails or don’t like to talk on the phone. Being that I am Generation X, I’m not down with this at all. We can’t heal by just being on a screen of our “smartphone,” or “liking” radical Indigenous statuses. Really folks, how does this make change but stroke egos? We have to do this work out in the world. But do it and don’t boast about it. Humble yourself in the eyes of the Creator. Seriously social media is not deprogramming either for those that think they are so “radical.” It is a tool of mind and social control to keep you all hooked. It is another addiction similar to TV and shortening your attention span and ability to think for long periods of time. How many of you out there can sit down and read a book for hours on end? Probably just a few of you.

Closed Reservations and White Liberal Saviors

Not all reservations have open doors and in fact the door is shut tight to outsiders. Every white liberal in the world can now say that they have been to Standing Rock and on a “reservation.” This is all Native land! I have lived on a reservation for 6 years and traveled to my tribal community since I was a kid. Going to a reservation better not become to latest “mission,” trip. Oh wait those already happen. Take your mission trips to cul-de-sacs of suburbia and do work in your own perfectly plotted community.

The action in Standing Rock doesn’t mean that all other communities will be open. In fact, we are very closed and sometimes to our own people. It is absolutely obnoxious that this has happened and stating “we are all one” is actually very violent and colonial. We are not all one and we need to honor the deep pain of generation trauma, current invisibility, current injustices, and that we are survivors of genocide that has never been acknowledged in the colonial United States. Some hippie-dippie walks into Standing Rock for the “experience,” and to feel good. Uh-uh, no way, and go away. I am not looking to feel good all the time but to be real and do the work that needs to be done in our Anishinaabe communities. Our lives as Native people should never be an “experience” for non-Native people. Unfortunately the level of exotification and festishization is deeply prevalent coming from the majority culture.

What You Can Do to Take Action and Actually Support Indigenous People Everyday!

Deconstruct Native stereotypes in your local community such as in mascots in high schools, colleges, and other forms of discrimination and racism that are right outside your front door.

Think of the many ways you can amplify Indigenous voices through supporting Indigenous made films, reading books by Indigenous authors, purchasing music, attending powwows, artists markets, and craft fairs.

Know what treaty land you are on as well as the traditional name of the place you reside in. For instance, Manistee, Michigan – Naaminitigong, which means “the land beneath the trees.” Naaminitigong is in the 1836 Treaty Territory.

Understand what Two-Spirit means based on the tribe in the area you reside. This is not a pan-Indian definition. Know what Two-Spirit means and how you can support amplifying Two-Spirit people, their voices, and their stories in your area.

Form an Indigenous-settler support group in your high school, college, or community. Truly do the work, show up, be challenged, and grow far beyond your comfort zone.

Decolonize organizing. Let Native people lead in movements and organizing. Particularly give voice to women, LGBTQ-Two-Spirited people, youth, elders, and the disabled. So often Native people are tokenized but never truly given leadership roles or space to speak. We desperately need to change this.

Don’t fetishize us and know that with our own communities nothing is perfect. There is internalized patriarchy, internalized sexism, internalized homophobia, nepotism in tribal governments, and overall toxic lateral violence. If you are to work with us and support us you need to know that lateral violence is an unfortunate social colonial illness that plagues most of our communities.

Celebrate daily personal victories for Indigenous people such as “one day at a time,” SOBRIETY! HEALING! RECOVERY!

Returning & Amplifying Our Work in Our Home Territories

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe asked folks in January to pack up and go home from all camps as well as not build any new resistance camps without the consent of the tribe. I feel this is a good move and believe we all need to do work in our home territories. While this was the largest gathering of Indigenous people on Turtle Island since colonization, it is not the only gathering. I know there will be other gatherings, actions, and forms of resistance. Perhaps the next gathering or action will be larger and create an even deeper and meaningful impact for generations to come? There are gatherings, actions, and forms of resistance daily. We need to grow and amplify our work by and for our people. I respect and love our various Indigenous prophecies across Turtle Island but we have to commit to this work in order for it to be a reality. This is the union – blue collar worker raised, practical Midwestern, and Michigander in me speaking. This war has always been taking place since the colonization and erasure of our people starting in 1492. This has always been a disgrace from the naming and occupation of lands to states, counties, and cities. For Native people our eyes have always been open and now the rest of the world is seeing through our lens. Think about your every action and intention. What can be done at home? Take a look at other Indigenous led environmental struggles you can support right in your own backyard. Remember environmental justice is not just about land defending and water protection. It is about healing our people, sobriety, wellbriety, and recovery. So let’s all get behind love water not alcohol too, eh?

What can you do to heal relationships in your life? To heal yourself and your family. To bring healing to your tribal community. What can you do to give voice to those who need it the most? What are some ways you can decolonize on a day to day basis? Think of other ways to amplify this work, healing, and bring justice in your home territories.

If you didn’t feel comfortable in your body,When your sweaty palms made streaks on the desk at school,When homogenization tactics left you alone,Your voice is vibrating between this powerline and the one 500 miles away,

You had become a fierce warrior at twelve,When the junior high principal ostracized you,Injustice was nothing new,Instead of your concerns being taken seriously,You cut your arms all alone,

While grunge understood you there was no way to process this energy,They give you the “at-risk,” label,Toss out nets of prevention but never deal with the root cause,

Rocks on the railroad tracks,There were no cultural teachings,Just a plastic Indian doll from China picked up at a tourist destination in Saint Ignace,A gift and small gesture,The culture was still far away as the ancestors sorrow yet to be healed,

I do love these plastic feathers,They are all I have in suburbia,The spiraling of building and construction,Destruction and land loss,My culture became this liberal utopia prior to gentrification,The Dandelion Antique Shop,Vintage Noir,Going Once Going Twice,Art and telephone wires,They spiral into my heart to fill the soul sadness unexplainable in 1992,

Telephone

The telephone was plastic,I push these buttons hard,The sound spirals down the wires,I hope sound vibrates through the wires in the sky and way up north to the ancestors,

They looked at you as the other,The police came twice,The table was flipped,Generational trauma was swept out the front door,

Youth Indian Catholic Worker

Your heart aligned with the speeding train,There was the “guy with the green hat,”And I knew that I knew him,Or maybe I was him?

The ancestors on da Soo line,Riding out this copper mine,To the copper mind,Of decolonization,In a cedar lodge of healing in Kchiwiikwedong,

Constellation Hearts Desire

An oak leaf was peace,Most of those in suburban crisis could not see this peace,Colorful telephone wires in a corner of a basement,Connect to Ojibwe constellations,The night sky without sounds,To the sound of my heart,The fingernails on my neck,I will touch my neck in a loving way,We are healing now.

We have never left the land,We have always spoken for the land,We have never left the water,We have always spoken for the water,

From Eagle Rock way up in the UP,In the 1842 Treaty of LaPointe territories,In Anishinaabe Aki,To the Ring of Fire,Attawapiskat First Nation,Neskantaga First Nation,Aamjiwnaang First Nation,To Standing Rock,We join hands across Turtle Island,Our tears become the cleansing waters,

Hands on the land,Hands on the water,Standing for the land,Standing for the water,

Ancestors draw near,Touch our hearts and souls,As a people we rise,Together in prayer,

Across Turtle Island injustice is normalized,Through militarized colonial violence,Denial of Indigenous identity,Voice or visibility,Our sacred sites gated with barbed wire and barricades,They tell us our lands are not as worthy as a church,Dominion reigns,

Eagle Rock is mined below,We have no access to it,Contamination of the soul is welcome,We seek to bring healing,

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community fought for 12 years,The colonial white government ignores our voices,Colonization has never ended,

Missing and murdered Indigenous women,Girls and Two-Spirits,Sex trafficking,The Bakken,Duluth,Thunder Bay,The ports,Broken hearts,Broken lives,Wounded souls,We never wanted to live this way,

The water flows under the steel and iron,The voice silenced,She never wanted to live this way,Maybe the water will lead her to safety?To heal,To be renewed,

We are all rising,So no one else goes missing in the oil fields,On a Great Lakes freighter,

We are all rising,To prevent more pipelines,Which bring the toxic and patriarchal violence of "man camps,"To say no more to colonial sexual violence,We are on the tributary of a healing to a decolonized future,When we stand and speak,

The ancestral soul is rising,We are rising,We are here,We are here with our ancestors,We are here with the ones to come,

We are singing,We are dancing,We are speaking,We are healing,We are love.]]>Poem: The Androgynous Man in Brown Pants, Part 4PoetryTwo-SpiritHealingGenerational TraumaRecoverySobrietyWellbrietyCecelia Rose LaPointeTue, 12 Jul 2016 01:19:46 +0000http://www.anishinaabekwe.com/blog/poem-androgynousman45640c6e7e4b0652a44ecd343:5652435be4b03dc95c7cb2db:57831116579fb375af637528The androgynous man in brown pants reflected on his days,As a sexualized female,Chasing around the darkness of the heart,Falling down on a bed,To feel the metal coils in his hips,The white walls and the silent pulsating sound of generational trauma,Silent ingested hymns of shame turned inward,Knives of generational trauma to not eat and not nurture,So the brown dorm refrigerator and rank smell of past haunts ran the show,

There was a window to exit,Mumbles of “girls at this school,”When he in fact was running from himself,As a man/woman in a female body,

Detroit industrialization toppled onto the androgynous man in brown pants,No one could understand the union organizer/Indigenous survivance,Running through their spirit,Or the land/water integration,Despite the concrete/urban core white washing and homogenization amnesia,

The assimilation of industrialization,Freeway consumption plasticity,The patriarchy is a pandemic of toxicity,Facing the patriarchy within their body,

Meant hearing sounds that were a torment,Like old Gothic cathedrals chiming in London,The iron worker stained by filth and pollution,Cold feeling hands clenched a piece of bread,Delirium frazzled nutritional deficiencies,

Coils of factories,The coils of the disorder,The root cause of the problem,Deep within the ancestral soul,Recovery of feelings and emotions,Take out by the root to heal,

The androgynous man in brown pants has decolonized within himself,Herself and their-self,He has healed the little boy who started a moon and was shamed by patriarchy,In a parking lot near the meter in downtown pre-gentrified Royal Oak,She has healed that he hurt her because of societal conditional,They have transformed deep suffering to real-true love and joy,

The body is not a puritanical patriarchal body,The body as a healed body,This is healthy sexuality,This is health asexuality,When they choose and decide how they feel,

The androgynous man in brown pants sits near the water,Near the fire,Circled by the tall pines,With ancestral Chiefs,With the ancestral Grandmothers,With the ancestral Two-Spirit Diva’s,Pre-colonization,And is fully healing.